More about the quadrants

I stress that the allocation of space to quadrants referred to in the previous blog is an abstraction from reality. In practice most things most people will do most of the time will have some elements of more than one area of need contained within them. So eating in isolation may just be material satisfaction (although even then some intellectual curiosity about the food may arise). As soon as eating becomes a communal meal it has an emotional element too. Some meals are ritualistic: they are incorporated into the process of searching for meaning. I think my point is clear: don’t assume we single task. We never do, but it makes the diagram easier to think about things if drawn the way I have. This is what modelling requires.

I’m sure some will wish to challenge the choice of quadrants: all I can say is that based on much reading over many years in many cultural, faith and wisdom traditions these four seem to be recurring themes. They fit Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, for example (and don’t worry that he has five such needs and there are only four quadrants: this model will develop).